Consolider la paix dans un contexte de Covid-19 : défis, initiatives et perceptions en République Démocratique du Congo

Cette recherche traite des effets de la Covid-19 sur les communautés les plus démunies en République Démocratique du Congo. Les mesures restrictives prises par les autorités congolaises pour contenir la pandémie ont engendré de nouveaux problèmes qui touchent aux conditions socio-économiques déjà préoccupantes des groupes les plus modestes. Avec aussi peu de moyens dont dispose le pays, la volonté du gouvernement d’aider les Congolais à passer à travers la crise n’a pas suffi pour soulager leur souffrance. Les communautés les plus fragiles, de leur côté, ont développé un sentiment d’abandon en se caractérisant comme des laissés-pour-compte. De telles perceptions sont néfastes pour la paix sociale. Consacré à l’évaluation des programmes nationaux de gestion de crise, l’article se veut une contribution pertinente à la littérature sur la consolidation de la paix. En essayant de se démarquer des théories dominantes sur la paix, il examine la capacité d’un pays post-conflit comme la RDC à préserver la paix sociale dans un contexte de crise de l’ampleur de la Covid-19.

The Impact of Civil Society on Control of Corruption: A Comparative Study of Russia and Iran

This paper studies the role of civil society in controlling corruption in public services in two developing countries: Russia and Iran. Research on the relationship between civil society and corruption control in these two countries is insufficient. Selecting Russia and Iran for comparison is based on similarities between them in terms of economic and political systems, and the developments of their civil societies. This paper compares the historical developments and the status of corruption and civil society in both countries; the efforts that civil society actors have made in battling corruption; and the state’s reaction to these attempts. This study covers a period of almost three decades from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to 2020. The findings of the study show that the civil societies in both countries have had limited impact on controlling corruption over the period. Although these findings do not support a prominent role for civil society in control of corruption in past, the author argues that, according to some evidence, there is a possibility of a stronger role for civil society in combatting corruption in both countries in the future.

A Framework for Unity

Colombia’s civil war, the longest war in modern history, finds itself at an inflection point in which either peace can slowly be attained or war can consume the country again. This article lays out a plan for a peace deal between the Colombian government and the agrarian Marxist ELN, taking the 2015 peace deal between the government and the leftist FARC as a point of reference. Despite a conservative administration that is hostile to peace currently in power, there are several tangible opportunities that make the next few months ripe for peace. The election of Joe Biden, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing unpopularity of the conservative approach to war can all facilitate the ELN coming to the negotiation table. This article lays out an ELN peace deal focused on agrarianism, inclusiveness, illegal drugs, and victims’ rights, and concludes with short-, mid-, and long-term goals to achieve peace.

North America needs Youth, Peace and Security: young people shifting tides for positive peace

The United Nations' Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda ensures and demands the protection and recognition of young people's roles in peace and security. This article focuses on why domestic YPS implementation is needed with the rise of social justice activism by young people in North America. The rise of youth activism and youth leadership in social justice movements has given a space for the global political agenda to challenge traditional approaches to "peace and security" frameworks. This includes challenging pre-conceived notions of YPS - and its policy frameworks - as a 'foreign' agenda by North American and other Western countries. We argue that this global shift in youth social justice activism demonstrates the need for critical domestic implementation and policy priorities for the YPS agenda within traditional donor- or Western- States, using Canada and the United States as case studies.

Situating Petrostate Guyana in the Rise of China Discourse

By examining the Sino-Guyanese relationship and China’s parastatal involvement in Guyana, this paper seeks to demonstrate that the former’s potential for upending conventional geopolitical realities in Latin America and the Caribbean are overstated. As Western public concern regarding the perils of a China to the international order grows, the case of Guyana draws attention to China’s still deepening integration within the neoliberal global economy. Guyana’s historic relationship with China, geostrategic location as a Belt and Road Initiative partner country, and the recent emergence of the Guyana Basin as an energy nexus, suggests its importance as a bellwether of China’s presence in the region. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, assumptions regarding China’s re-emergence in the global order are being overturned frequently. It remains unclear what impact contemporary socio-economic, political, or ecological instabilities will have on a realignment of the incumbent international system, the need for nuanced and novel approaches for assessing the agency of a risen China is unequivocal.

Book Review: Transational Sites of China's Cultural Diplomacy: Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Europe Compared.

This review celebrates editors Jarmila Ptáčková, Ondřej Klimeš, and Gary Rawnsley’s Transnational Sites of China’s Cultural Diplomacy. Ptáčková Et. Al. advocate for a transnational approach to the study of Chinese cultural diplomacy, suggesting that various sites or localities that aim to improve the image of the PRC aboard can be read as discrete units of analysis. This method stresses the need to expand our understanding of how state or non-state actors’ excerpt or fail to excerpt influence within a given region. An emphasis is placed on the diverse set of forces that are involved in shaping the meaning of a given states cultural diplomacy. The nine chapters in this volume demonstrate how different “sites” influence China’s cultural diplomacy. An effort is made to emphasize how China has adapted or failed to adapt to local circumstance, stressing the governments rapidly changing and developing cultural-diplomatic apparatus. It is concluded that this volume constitutes an important contribution to the study of policy, cultural diplomacy, and our future understanding of the PRC and its ability to win over hearts and minds in a global context.